Sun vs. Wave

"Soldiers, ready!" Elspeth cried.

She stood off to the side on a slightly elevated patch of land so that she might have a vantage point to better understand the mechanics of battle. While not directly engaged in combat herself, Elspeth was loyal to her troops and summoned as many soldiers as she could with her sorcery. They joined her existing forces in scores and scores, but her heart was heavy with the fear that this would all not be enough.

The battlefield was spread out before her, storm clouds gathering. She had commanded her soldiers to attack on her signal and not raise any weapon a moment sooner. They were prepared to fight to the death against their enemies. Wind whipped the salt from the sea into their faces and they stood firm even as the waves rose and crashed and boiled from the pressure of the creatures beneath, scalding the brave souls on the front lines.

She was supposed to be the Sun's Champion but now, more than ever, she felt like her presence was a crippling blight to her soldiers. they were large in number but weak in individual strength. It was as though her powers as a knight had been negated.

Now, it looked like they were about to face off against another onslaught of attackers. After some hidden signal ordered them to do so, these imposing creatures of the water walked onto the land from the oceans directly, their tentacles waving and thrashing with malice as they smote anyone in their path. Her soldiers were not silent as they fell; screaming to whoever they honored most as their god. Their composure was flawed in their last moments on earth and Elspeth was alarmed at how many times her name was called amid a flurry of weapons and blood.

Elspeth was strong. She knew that she could not shut her senses - sight and hearing - from the death that surrounded her. She wished she could. Perhaps this military campaign, even with all of the care and thought she had put into planning the confrontation, was simply not ready to face a battle of this scale. Something much deeper and darker was lurking beneath the waves - the legendary Kiora, Crashing Wave. If she had yet to make an appearance, what would happen to her soldiers then?

Her soldiers were dying as soon as she could summon reinforcements to take their place. Each individual man and women who lost their life was not simply a token pawn. They were their own entity, with consciousness, love and hope in their hearts. Perhaps they didn't even know why they signed up for this campaign. And now they were all dying. It was her fault.

There was nothing she could do to stop it. The creatures of the waves were hungry and humans were their preferred meal. The situation seemed hopeless. She was a tactician and a leader at heart who cared deeply for those who were willing to lay down their lives at her feet. She felt guilty for every drop of blood spilled but feared that it was too late to change the plan now. She did not want to back down, even against these creatures of the deepest ocean.

In spite of everything, though, she was their leader. And so her followers marched blindly out onto the plains at the edge of the battlefield, facing a verdant heaven of green forests and blue islands that raggedly lined the coast.

The tides of battle had been changing for some time. The clanging sound of her troops' weapons colliding with scaly armor made her heart sink. She knew what it was like to be on the losing side of a battle. And perhaps it would be wisest to settle this as a draw.

Night was falling and the ocean creatures always returned to their depths when the moon came out from behind the clouds. After one more round of attacks, the krakens, octopi, and all other creatures were overwhelmed by a dark blue wave and retreated to their strong hold in the ocean, no doubt preparing for the next duel that was to come.

Elspeth stood watching the bubbles rising to the surface. Kiora would be furious. And next time neither opponent would back down until the very end.